USEA News

Feather Creek Farm in Norman, Oklahoma (Area V) hosts two USEA recognized events in June and September, offering Introductory through Preliminary levels. At their June event they also host divisions for the Future Event Horse and Young Event Horse. Feather Creek Farm offers boarding and training services all year as well as cross-country schooling, combined tests, and unrecognized events.

According to Christoph Hess, the greatest consideration when riding and working with horses is sound basic training, whether the horse and rider are riding for pleasure or are serious competitors. In "Ride Better with Christoph Hess,"a question-and-answer style problem solver, Hessprovides thoughtful, easy-to-apply advice for a range of issues, from issues with the horse's gaits to leaning on the bit, lack of straightness, and more! Hess explains the horse's character and demonstrates how you can only become the best possible rider by listening closely and understanding your horse.

On March 13 and 14, Danny Warrington and Jonathan Holling will host a special LandSafe Clinic at Holling’s farm in Ocala, Florida. This LandSafe Clinic is sponsored by a grant from the United States Eventing Association and is focused not only on educating riders on the importance of fall safety, but also educating parents.

“There was a fall recently that was very close to both Johnathan and I,” said Warrington. “We got together in a short amount of time to put this together.”

As I suspect is the case for many event riders, I have a recurring nightmare about dressage. I’m walking out of the ring at an event, where I’ve just ridden the test of my life. So good, in fact, that on my way back to the trailer I’m already congratulating myself, bragging to friends that I’ve definitely scored in the teens. Certainly I’m several points ahead of the competition. I untack, feed my mare a bag of carrots, and head off to retrieve my test, which I come to discover is written in another language, in characters I can’t even decipher. The TD can’t explain it either, other than to say that a dressage judge’s marks are never up for debate.

Last month we continued our four-part series on positive thinking by talking about thought chatter (or what I often call brain babble). If you recall, your brain thinks up to 60,000 thoughts each day (that’s about 40 thoughts a minute, or one thought every 1.5 seconds). Our brains are like boats, as long as they keep moving they stay heathy, but let a boat idle for too long and barnacles begin to grow and slow its performance. Our brains act in a similar way. They stay healthy as long as they keep thinking.

Don't let the winter weather get you down when you can use being stuck in the arena as an opportunity to fine tune your riding! In this series, we are reviving past Grid Pro Quo articles from Eventing USA to help you use the off-season to your advantage and keep you and your horse in tip-top shape for when it's time to get back out there. Click here to check out other past Grid Pro Quo exercises to spice up your arena this winter!

It always helps to see a warm and friendly face when heading to warm up for that all-important test or jump round. In this series, the United States Evening Association (USEA) is partnering with Athletux to feature those around us who help make these events happen, the volunteers. Without them horse shows and programs could not succeed, and these volunteers go above and beyond to make sure every rider feels comfortable and confident. Do you know a volunteer who should be nominated as Volunteer of the Month? We are looking for our next feature. Email your tips to [email protected].

The USEF Show Jumping Course Advisor Program was introduced in 2004 to raise the standard of show jumping course design in the United States. In cooperation with the USEA, the program initially focused on show jumping courses for FEI and Advanced level competition, but expanded in recent years to reviews of courses for Preliminary and Intermediate horse trials. The goal of the program is to ensure the standard of the courses throughout the country and to deliver courses that provided the same level of technicality. The program has been effective in improving the consistency of show jumping courses through the review and critique of courses from a majority of designers.

Ask horse owners to name their most-feared horse diseases, and chances are equine herpesvirus, or EHV, will be on the list. With the competition season underway, it’s important for equestrians to be vigilant and take preventive measures, from vaccination to biosecurity.